445 



those climates, in which the sting of the mos- 

 chettoes, and the irritation of the skin, render 

 the use of baths so necessary. 



We stopped at noon in a desert spot called 

 AlgodonaL I left my companions, while they 

 drew the boat to land, and were occupied in 

 preparing our dinner. I went along the beach 

 to observe nearer a group of crocodiles sleeping 

 in the Sun, and placed in such a manner, as to 

 have their tails, furnished with broad plates, 

 resting on one another. Some little herons # , 

 white as snow, walked along their backs, and 

 even upon their heads, as if they were passing- 

 over trunks of trees. The crocodiles were of a 

 greenish-gray, half covered with dried mud ; 

 from their colour and immobility they might 

 have been taken for statues of bronze. This ex- 

 cursion had nearly proved fatal to me. I had 

 kept my eyes constantly turnedtoward the river; 

 but, on picking up some spangles of mica ag- 

 glomerated together in the sand, I discovered 

 the recent footsteps of a tiger, easily distinguish- 

 able from their form and size. The animal had 



* Garzon chico. It is believed in Upper Egypt, that the 

 herons have an affection for the crocodile, because they take 

 advantage in fishing of the terror, that this monstrous animal 

 causes among the fishes, which he drives from the bottom to 

 the surface of the water > but on the banks of the Nile, the 

 heron keeps prudently at some distance from the crocodile. 

 (Geoffroy de St. Hilaire, in the Ann. du Musee, vol. ix, 

 p. 384.) 



